Improved bridge-gate



intml gitanas @anni @ritira ALEXANDER WEIDE. OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

Letters Patent'No.-94,534, dated September 7 1869.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of thesame.

ends of swinging bridges and the abntments of' roadways thereupon,sothat when the bridge is closed, the said gate or guard lies below thebridge, so as not to interfere with the passing of carriages orfoot-passen-` gers, and when the bridge is opened, said gate or guardrises up and forms a barrier across, the entire roadway vand walks, toprevent persons from fallin accidentally into the water, the closing ofthe bridge causing said gate to descend out of' the way, as hereinafterspecified.

My said improvementcnsist in a novel modeot' constructing and operatingthe said bridge-gate; and

'lo enable those skilled in the art to know how to make and use' myinvention, I will now describe the same with particularity, makingreference in so doing to the aforesaid drawings, in whichl Figure lrepresents a side elevation of my invention, Figure 2 is aplan or topview of the same.V l Figure 3 is a front elevation of the gate, as seenin looking from ,the river toward the abutment of the roadway.

Figure 4 is a rear view of the same, showing the frame-work. I

,- Figure 5 is va central vertical line x, in fig. 2. Figure 6 shows abottom view of the bridge, with the means for operating vthe gates. l

Similar letters ofreference -in the several figures denote the sameparts of' my said improvement.

The bridge-gate is to be arranged on each side of' the stream to becrossed,`1nakingftwo gates for each bridge; but as they are exactlysimilar, and similarly sectionftaken at the operated, I have shown butone of said gates andthe contiguous end of the bridge in the drawings.

A represents the roadway whereit abuts-upon the end of4 the bridge B,which is supported upon a central pier', revolving-upon its centre in'the ordinary manner, when it is desired to open or close the same. tTher is a space left between the abutment/aud the bxidgerwidc enough forthe gate O, as seen in fig. 1.

v',lhe said gate O has a vertical reciprocating movement, the top of thegate being-cna level with the bridge and roadway when the bridge isclosed, but rising up a suitable distance above th'e roadway when thebridge is opened, as hereinafter described.

The gate is composed of the upper and lower curved .bars O C, connectedby the vertical bars D, as seen in fig. 3. v

F F are two suitable posts or guides, to which the gate is attached byloops c c, which surround said posts F, and thus`the posts F serve tokeep the gate in place, and at the-same time permit said gate to move upandV down as desired.

G represents braces sccuredto the top of said posts i F, to which alsothe guard-rail is attached, said brace passing down vthrough theframe-work supporting the gate, where it is secured by two muts,wherebythe brace can be'made rigid and firm as desired.

v'lo the said gate is attached a bar, E, sloping lup from each end ofthegate to the centre, as seen in fig. 3, said bar being provided witha-channel or groove, marked a, as isshown in figs. l, 3,and 5.

This angular grooved bar E, secured upon the gate, is the meansby whichthe gate is lowered and elevated by the closingand opening ofthebridge,.ss hereinafter describe( J 'represents a shaft, upon which twopulleys, K K,

are fixed, over which chains L pass, one end of said chains beingsecured to weights, W \V, and the other end to said pulleys, so that .bymeans of the teeth my, on said pulleys, which engage with the, racks non the gate, the weights lV lV serve as a counter-poise to the gate, sothat it can` be. raised or lowered easily and uniformly, and withoutsudden or irregular movements in its descent. The shaft, and rack, andpinion above mentioned, also serve another. purpose, which will behereinafter explained.

For the purpose of locking the pate inpla'cewhen it is raised up, alevel', I, is fulcrumed to the central vertical bar I) of the gate, itsupper end heilig provided witha' point or catch, i', and its lower endbeing thrown outward by'means ot an arched or projecting' spring, H, asseen in tig.

Near the top of the abutment, as seen insaid fig. 5, is a small hole orsocket, x, made i n a plate secured in the proper positiou,sothatwhenthe gate is moved upto its desired height,the. point 't on the lever.I is thrown into said hole x by lneans'of the spring H, thus securelylocking the gatej in place,.and preventing its being pushed 'down untilthe bridgeV closes. When the gate is down, the said catch passes througha hole in the bar to which the lever-'I is attached, as seen in fig.5,

Upon the ends of the bridge are secured metallic plates b, arranged lowenough so that when the bridge closes it will press' in upon the springH, and the lower end ot' the lever I, anddetach the catch 'i from thesocket x, and permit the gate to be moved down as desired.

At the centre of each end of the bridge is a' pin or projection, marked(l al, said pins being the terminations of the rods M, seen in fie. 6,which are attached to a rock-shaft, N, so that a person by moving alever, o, can withdraw the said projections l into the ends of thebridge when ldesired, but which remain permanently projecting when thenotch in I is looked upon said lever o, to'hold it immovable, saidlocking-device being seen in iig. 2. Having described the constructionof my said improvement-,I will now describe its mode of operation. Whenthe bridge is closed, the topof the gate lies level with the bridge andthe roadway, as seen in fio.

5, and the pins or projections d d, on the ends of the bridge, lie inthe apex of the groove a, or highest part thereof, as seen in said lig.5.

`When the bridge begins to turn in either direction, it is obvious thatthe eect of moving the pins d horizontally'in the downward inclinedgroove a., will be to raise up the gato to which the grooved bar E isattached.

This process of raising the gate continues until the pin el passes outat the end of the grooved bar E, the gate in the meantime having beenelevated a distance equal to the vertical distance between horizontallines drawn, one through the apex and one through the lower end of thegrooved bar F.

Just as the pin'fl escapes from the groove a, the pin 'i on the lever Iis thrown into the soelret a, and seeurelylocks the. gate in place.

It will be observed that the pressure to raise the gate istapplied uponside thereof, although it may be upon either side, and hence there wouldbe a tendency for the otherend of the gate to sag, and not move upeasily or in a level position.

By the arrangement ot' the shaft J, pinions ymm., and racks n n, onepinion and rack at each end ot' the gate, it is obvious that theabove-named difficulty is obvi- .ated, as the movement revolves theshaft, and the pinion raises the opposite end with' the same movementand rapidity that the pin 'll raises the end to which it is applied.

When it is desired to close the bridge, as the ends swing in the platesb, press in the spring H andthe lower end of the lever I, thuswithdrawing the catch lfrom its socket just as thepin d enters the lowerend of the groove a in the bar E, so that the closing of the bridge,bringing the pin d to the apex'of the groove, moves the gate down to itsoriginal position.

The pins or projections are made so as to be withdrawn, so that in casethe bridge should be required to be'opened when the gate was frozen in,or should be otherwise out of order, the pins could be removed, so thatthe bridge could be turnedvwithout alfeoting the gate. An y othersuitable means may be employed for making said pins ll removable thanthe manner herein shown.

Having described the 'construction and operation of my improvement, 'Iwill specify what I claiml and desire to secure by Letters Patent.

-`'.1. The combination ot" the grooved angular bar E, with a verticallyreciprocating gate() I), arranged and ope `ating substantially as andfor the purposes herein set forth.

2. In combination with said gatev C D and angular grooved bar E, `theshaft J, pinions m m, and racks In. a, arranged to operate substantiallyin the manner and for the purposes set forth and shown.

3. lincolnbination with the gate C Dthe lever I, with its latch 1', thespring H, and a suitable socket, x, for the purpossl of securingthegate'in position when elevateduntil the bridge closes, substantially inthe manner and tor the purposes specified.

4. Providing the ends of the bridge with removable pins or projectionsel, to operatethe gate, asand for the'purposes set forth.

Wit-nesses:

XV. E, Manns, l. Banus.

ALEXANDER Warns..

